Hawaii National Park, HI – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 1,304,667 visitors in 2010 spent $88,258,000 in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and in communities near the park. That spending supported 1,162 jobs in the local area.

“Communities near national parks have always understood their positive fiscal impact,” Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said. “Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, the most popular destination on the island of Hawai‘i and one of the most visited attractions statewide, is vital to the economic well-being both of our island and state economies.”

In 2011, an estimated 1,352,122 people visited Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, an increase of 3.6 percent from 2010.

Most of the 2010 spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent) and groceries (2 percent).

The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities and are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.

Across the U.S, local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009.